Waffles, Chocolate, Beer, Fries- This could only be Belgium

This weekend I finally left the Netherlands. After 6 wonderful weeks in the country, I hopped over to Belgium with my friend Alisha. Belgium is incredible,Antwerp. We stayed with our new Belgian friend Jelle and his family in their home right outside the city. Staying with someone from the city is so much better than a hostel ever could be. First of all you have your very own tour guide who is extremely proud of their city and wants to show it off. Upon arriving at about 930 pm we were taken to a restaurant with DELICIOUS hamburgers (at Alisha's request). At the restaurant, called the Lunchbox, we indulged in amazing hamburgers made with very fresh ingredients, Belgian fries with mayonnaise and of course Belgian beer. Burgers and beer in Belguim, yummmmm. Then after stuffing ourselves to the last possible fry Jelle took us on a tour of the city at night. It was such a cool way to first see the city because a) we are the only tourists so it's easy to get close to everything b) things look magical at night c) we were newly arrived and very enthusiastic about everything. I think Europeans find our enthusiasm for any semi-old building amusing since they are so used to it. Jelle explained the reason behind the name of the city of Antwerp at the statue of the man throwing the hand. According to an old legend there was a giant that used to ask for a toll to cross the river and if people didn't pay he would cut off one of their hands and throw it in the river. Then one day Barbo (the guy in the statue) slew the giant and cut off his hand and threw it in the river. So Antwerp is derived from hand thrown. Something I really loved about the city was how diverse it was, apparently it has the 2nd most nationalities in the world after New York.

On Saturday after a loverly breakfast provided by Jelle's mom we went to the city with her. She took us the the Market of the Foreigners, which was really cool. There were Turkish booths with olives and bread to sample, Italians with pasta, Spaniards with churros and Belgians with waffles. Alisha and I got our first Belgian waffles which were delicious! Also the waffle man and Jelle's mom were surprised by my Dutch which was funny. After that Alisha and I headed out to see the Maire, which is a gorgeous shopping street. It has all these nice stores in really old buildings. The two that stand out in particular are the Festival Hall which is a mall with gold ceilings and the old palace that now has a Belgian chocolate store. So of course Alisha and I sampled the chocolate!

After that we toured the Cathedral of Our Lady, which is completely stunning. It was also really cool to see because we were talking about that type of architecture in my art history class last week. Also the Gothic style goes along with my Gothic class. After that we met back up with Jelle and he took us to see his favorite parts of the city including a pedestrian tunnel that goes under the river. In Antwerp they have tunnels instead of bridges for crossing the river. It was really cool, the escalators had wood on them and we read that the tunnel was made in 1931. From that part of the river we had an amazing panoramic view of the city. That night we went to a typical Belgian night out called de afreckening. This was basically a ton of people dancing to rock and techno music in a tent outside and it was a lot of fun. Most of the music was American so Alisha and I knew it and had a lot of fun singing and dancing.

Sunday after another delicious breakfast we went into the city to have some gelato and take the train home. Antwerp Central Station is gorgeous, its the 3rd most beautiful train station in the world. It was a really good way to come and go in the city because it's a nice place to be and it's very impressive so you leave with a really good last impression. Overall the weekend was fantastic and Alisha is a great travel companion. Jelle was also a wonderful host along with his family. This was defiantly a weekend I will never forget. Even reading Frankenstein on the train could not bring me down, if you do not already know Frankenstein is one of my least favorite books ever.Upon arriving in Utrecht two of our friends rode to the station on their bikes to pick us up and save us the walk so we rode the Dutch way on the back of the bike. I am getting very used to this and it is a really fun way to travel because you get to see the street zoom by and feel the air without worrying about anything except keeping balanced. It is nice to be back in the bubble though, the break from it has made me love it. Also I decorated my room and rearanged it a littl before I left so when I came home it felt very cozy, very gezellig.